View the video of the Mayor’s remarks at the Grand Opening of the Mayor’s South LA Help Desk.
On October 11, 2013 Mayor Garcetti was on hand for the grand opening of the South LA Help Desk:
Theodore “Ted” Lumpkin is a lifelong resident of South Los Angeles and is part of that historic group of Tuskegee Airmen — known as “Red Tail Angels” — the first Black pilots trained in combat that went on to fly 1,578 missions and destroy 261 enemy aircraft.
On Friday, Ted, 93, along with his retired wife Georgia, were part of a somewhat lesser, but nevertheless important milestone as they were in a group of residents that helped launch Eric Garcetti’s South L.A. Mayor Help Desk.
Garcetti’s latest one-on-one meeting with constituents — his other “office hours” open doors have been in downtown, Boyle Heights and Van Nuys — was held at the city of Los Angeles Constituent Services Center, 8475 Vermont Ave.
In a welcome ceremony, emceed by Public Works Commissioner Mike Davis, an invocation was given by Pastor Kelvin Sauls, Holman United Methodist Church and classical tenors Bradley Baker and Donald Perry, accompanied by pianist Quinton Zigler, provided the musical entertainment.
On the walls of the downstairs conference room where the media briefing took place, were suggestion boards containing residents’ ideas for better government. They included more funding for public works, cleaning trash from sidewalks, more youth after-school programs, greater funding for gang intervention and more youth jobs.
